IPPN

Published: 16 November 2008

Source : Sunday Business Post

Many schools want money for building projects, but the government will have to make choices that will leave many unhappy, writes Martha Kearns. The capital allocation for school buildings was the only Budget 2009 announcement concerning the education sector which did not cause uproar among teachers and parents - in fact, it received little comment at all. This was probably because the impression was given that the allocation had increased from last year. As schools are waiting to see if they are included in a new building list, to be made public in January, most don't want to ruffle any feathers within the department until it is published. It is true that the overall capital allocation for education was one of the few areas across the entire budget that will increase next year - up 10 per cent on this year to €889 million. But, within that, the allocation for the schools capital programmes was slightly down from €586 in Budget 2008 to €581 in 2009. This, according to the Department of Education & Science, will allow for the completion of 26 major projects and start construction on another 62major projects at both primary and second-level. It will also allow completion of 100 smaller projects on site and allow 80 projects previously approved to progress to completion. The fall in the allocation of funds for school buildings will become a bigger issue once principals, teachers and parents see what schools are included - and, more importantly, excluded - on the new list, which is due to be announced after Christmas. A previous list of 25 major new buildings was announced in September. Work has not started on many of the schools that were named on the department's previous lists and the jobs have gone back out to tender. This, according to the Minister for Education and Science, Batt O'Keeffe, was because prices for school building projects were up considerably from this time last year. ''I am getting back tenders that are 15 per cent and 20 per cent less than they were when previously tendered. I insisted re-tendering take place in order for us to get value for money for the projects in hand," said O'Keeffe. One school which is hoping to be included is January's list is English National School, located around 10km from Ballinasloe in Co Galway. The school is 109 years old and parents feel the building is a health hazard for their children, many of whom come out in hives and get headaches as a result of poor ventilation in the classrooms. There are rats on the school grounds and mice inside the building. The school said it has a Rentokil report which showed that rodents were chewing on wires. ''This is a fire hazard - and with the windows nailed shut it is a tragedy waiting to happen. Engineer's reports have been sent to the Department of Education & Science, listing structural cracks in the walls, problems with the wiring and the windows, damp, mould, rotten roof, leaking plumbing, rotten floors, and so on. We have engineer's reports and Rentokil reports. The HSE and Health and Safety are compiling reports. We are not willing to wait for a Coroner's Report," read a statement from the school's parents association. The chairwoman of the association, Bridie Harney, said the biggest issue was the health hazard to the children, ten of whom had asthma, which is aggravated by the mould and damp. ''One child fell into a bucket which was set up to catch rainwater in one of the classrooms. Children are constantly slipping on wet floors. There is no hot water and no heating in the toilets. Part of the storage heating has had to be shut off because the classroom was filling with smoke. What is the long-term damage being inflicted on our children's health?" The school got a grant of €20,000 from the department, which was used to put tar felt onto the roof to prevent slates from falling off into the playground, which had been a regular occurrence. ''The roof is still rotten. Toilets which had been flooding were replaced, but water is still seeping up through the floor. Wire mesh has been fitted to the inside of the windows in the main building to prevent glass blowing in on top of the children, but this is now a fire hazard in itself. Leaks to the roof and windows in the prefabs have been repaired, but new leaks keep appearing. The Department seem to think that a few repairs here and there will make this a fit building for our children to be in - it will not," said the association. Parents of pupils, past and present, have bought a field behind the school and have started fund-raising in order to apply for planning permission themselves. They said they would pay for the plans, architect, planning - if the department gives €600,000 for the school building. The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) said that a crisis was looming in the primary building programme. INTO general secretary John Carr said while there would be between 11,000 and 12,000 additional pupils in primary schools next year, the fact that the budget allocation for next year had decreased ''beggared belief''. Carr said there were dozens of schools waiting for years for new buildings, extensions and renovations. ''Many of these were led to believe they would have builders on site this year. Now the minister appears to be short of funding to bring them on stream." ''In 2008 the summer works scheme had to be abandoned so new schools could be built. The minister must say what else will be sidelined so that new school places can be provided," said Carr. The summer works scheme is to be re-introduced next year, according to the minister. Carr also said there was a need for transparency in the decision-making process. ''Schools are entitled to know how schools will be selected for preferment in the building programme," said Carr. He called for a return to the publication of full details of the building programme so that confidence in the process could be restored. This call was also backed by Fine Gael's education spokesman, Brian Hayes, who said the list should be published in full, as it was under the former minister, Noel Dempsey. ''He had an very accountable and transparent initiative where schools knew exactly where they stood on the list," said Hayes, who added that that process was abandoned by O'Keeffe's predecessor, Mary Hanafin. ''When will schools know exactly where they stand on this list, rather than having to wait for the wink and nod which comes from the local Fianna Fail deputy and which eventually comes through the minister? When will schools be told the truth as to when it is likely their projects will be advanced?" said Hayes. O'Keeffe said a departmental website would be ready before the end of this year, and this would provide all data on schools - including band ratings. It would give schools ratings from band one to five, with one meaning a project is a priority. The minister said the government had been faced with difficult choices in all areas of public spending, and the level of funding allocation in this area represented a significant investment in the school building and modernisation programme. ''The unprecedented level of capital investment in the school building programme reflects this Government's commitment to continuing the programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools." said O'Keeffe. Children taught in 'old second-hand prefabs' When Gaelscoil na Camoige in Clondalkin, Dublin 11 was set up in 1993, it started off in three second-hand prefabricated buildings. Now, 15 years later, the school's 228 pupils are being taught in the same prefabs, which are almost 25 years old. The all-Irish primary school, which has 15 staff, is hoping it will be on the new school building list when it is announced in January by the Department of Education & Science. Principal Caoimhe de Burca said the school was extremely disappointed to have been omitted from the last list. ''The pupils, parents and staff are extremely concerned about the lack of action," she said. There is a plan to build an all-Irish campus on the Nangor Road in Clondalkin, which would see Colaiste na Camoige amalgamate with another primary school, Gaelscoil Cluain Dolcain, and move to a purpose-built campus alongside second-level school Colaiste Chillian. ''The department has approved that, but we are still waiting to get the go-ahead 18 months on. We are very hopeful that we are on that list. They can not leave us any longer in the state we are in. But we are helpless and if we are not on that list, I don't know what we are going to do," said de Burca. ''Our staff and pupils have been suffering for years now, and it is almost impossible to teach or learn in these old second-hand prefabs, which are well past their sell-by date. There is dirt everywhere and water is seeping into the classrooms." She said the prefabs were too small for the amount of pupils and the school had to turn new pupils away last September. She also believed there was a health and safety risk to both staff and pupils. ''It's very cramped and it's not within the guidelines for the correct space. It is a priority for us to ensure the health and safety of the children, but I can't guarantee that any more. The prefabs are rotting and there is mould on the walls. It is too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. ''Teachers and pupils are getting sick. Parents complain that their children's clothes smell of damp when they get home. On wet days, it's a disaster as we have to go outside to get to classrooms. This means the children are sitting in cold classrooms with wet clothes. It is hard to comprehend that we are still providing children with an education in these conditions in 2008." De Burca said staff were excellent and went beyond their duties to ensure that the children received a rounded education. ''But the teachers find it a challenge every day to fulfil the curriculum. I understand that financial circumstances are difficult at present, but a price cannot be placed on the safety of children and teachers." Pupil numbers to rise dramatically It is estimated that about 100,000 new school places will be need to be created over the next seven years. A new Geographical Information System (GIS), which uses colour-coded mapping technology, is being used to help the department anticipate where the places will be needed in the future. The GIS is a digital image of the country which uses various sources of population-related data to look at current school locations and see where potential gaps are ; currently and in the future. ''The GIS facility includes software for running the colour-coded demographic reports, and training was provided in the use of the system. The software can produce various datasets on an ongoing basis that allow us to track changes in local populations," said Batt O'Keeffe, the Minister for Education & Science. The latest information from the Central Statistics Office shows that the primary school-going population will increase by at least 10 per cent in the next decade. The 2007 CSO figure for births was 70,620 ; the highest since 1982 and about 30 per cent higher than the figure for 2000.